Breaking Down Gender Bias: A Toolkit for Construction Business Owners

December 7, 2017

Words, actions, and people matter

The construction trades have long been one of the industries with the lowest percentage of women in the workforce – as of 2015, fewer than 3% of workers in the Construction and Extraction trades were women.

While data on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) workers in the trades is not available, it is clear that many women and LGBTQ workers face bullying and discrimination from sexism, homophobia, and transphobia in the workplace.

Our goal in developing this Toolkit is to offer an array of suggestions and solutions to help small business owners and managers break down gender stereotypes and create companies that are inclusive of all genders and sexual orientations.

We recognize that many other kinds of discrimination happen in the workplace—race, class, ethnicity, ability—but this Toolkit is specifically focused on gender discrimination.

Building the Workforce

The construction industry is faced with an aging workforce and a shortage of skilled labor. By expanding your recruitment efforts to include women, trans, and gender non-conforming people, you are expanding the pool of potential employees by over 50 percent!

“We all want to live in a world where there’s no question about why they picked you–you were the best, most qualified candidate, full stop.

But we can’t live in that world yet, because we haven’t all had equal privilege and opportunity. Some of us start with clear, unfair advantages rooted in history.

Failing to acknowledge that distribution and pretending there’s an equality of privilege is a form of willful ignorance that maintains those biases.”

Develop and enforce a zero tolerance sexual harassment policy. Below is a downloadable sample sexual harassment policy along with a sample complaint procedure.

Use gender neutral language in job postings and job descriptions.

Ensure that adequate gender neutral restroom facilities are available on every job site.

Ensure that all crew members have properly fitting PPE.

Connect with tradeswoman organizations and post your jobs there.

Create opportunities for mentorship.

Examples of Behaviors that Create a Hostile Environment

Vulgar jokes or teasing

Comments about body parts or sex life

Leering, staring or gesturing

Touching: brushing, pats, pinches, hugs

Suggestive or demeaning pictures, cartoons, or calendars

Pronouns & Self-Identification

Respect everyone’s self-identification. Call everyone by their preferred name/s and pronoun/s. Use language and behavior that is appropriate to their gender self-identification.

If you don’t know what pronouns or gender-labels someone prefers (and there’s no mutual friend around to clue you in), just ask them. Politely. And respectfully. For example:

“What pronoun do you prefer?”

or

“How do you like to be referred to, in terms of gender?”

If you misrecognize someone’s gender, it’s okay, don’t freak out. Apologize once and get it right the next time. Misidentifying or being unable to classify someone’s gender does not have to be an awkward or shameful experience.

Some transgender or gender non-conforming people are bravely making more space for gender diversity by using language creatively. Respect these efforts and don’t dismiss them as silly, funny, weird or too difficult.

For example, some people prefer to be referred to as ‘they’, or as both ‘he’ and ‘she’ interchangeably.

Some people prefer to be referred to only by their name. Some people use non-binary pronouns like ‘ze’ and ‘hir’.

Source: Edited version based on Trans Respect/Etiquette/Support 101

Inclusive Language

Our everyday language can often unintentionally affect the people around us. By making small but intentional choices to use inclusive language, you can make the workplace more welcoming to women, trans, and gender non-conforming people.

When greeting others, avoid

Ladies

Gentlemen

Guys

Girls

Ma'am

Sir

Instead, consider these alternatives:

Thanks, friends, have a good night

Good morning, folks

Hi everyone

And for you?

Can I get you all something?

Source: http://www.tonilatour.com/hello-there/

Confronting Offensive Talk

Stop an offensive remark before it happens. You might have heard statements like these:

“I’ll probably be accused of being a sexist for saying this, but . . .”

or

“Some people might be put off by this joke, but. . .”

If you hear that language, you might try nicely stopping the remark before it gets off the ground.

Here are some possible rejoinders:

“Go ahead, and then I will tell you why I think it is sexist.”

“If you’re saying it’s going to be offensive, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say it.”

Respond indirectly. When someone makes an offensive remark, we have to weigh the costs of a potentially uncomfortable confrontation against the benefits of addressing the remark directly.

Here are some alternatives to saying nothing:

“Wow.”

“Yikes.”

“Ouch.”

“Could we elevate the conversation?”

“Now that the sexist part of the conversation is over, can we move on?”

Respond directly. Answering offensive comments requires forethought, judgment, and courage, and it often works best when we keep our responses simple.

Consider responding with brief statements like these:

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do you really think that?”

“It doesn’t seem like you to say something like that.”

“No, I don’t think about it that way.”

“I don’t find that funny.”

“Would you want to have that said to/about your wife, daughter, or sister?”

“That type of remark about people makes me uncomfortable.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you felt that way about women (or trans or gender nonconforming people).”

“I’d rather not talk that way about people.”

“I don’t like to think about people that way.”

If an offensive remark is repeated, nicely ask for what you want (and don’t want): When someone repeats a remark after you’ve previously asked them to stop, try politely telling them that you’d prefer they not share their sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic comments when they’re with you.

For example, if someone is calling you “honey” in a setting that makes you uncomfortable, tell the person that you would prefer to be called by your name.

What Does Zero Tolerance Mean?

It is critical for every employer to develop and distribute a written no-harassment policy.

If your company has expressed its harassment prevention policy as a “Zero Tolerance” policy, be certain that supervisors and managers all understand what the “Zero Tolerance” represents.

If it means that we will not tolerate behavior that might violate the law and that we will terminate anyone who engages in such serious misconduct, then everyone also needs to understand the elements of the law of “hostile environment harassment.”

If “zero tolerance” means that we will not overlook more trivial violations of the company’s demand for respect in the workplace, then it is important that everyone in management understands that this does not mean we seriously discipline any violation of workplace etiquette.

Rather, it means that we do not ignore even childish, immature, or unprofessional workplace behavior and we use appropriate progressive discipline, including informal discipline and coaching and counseling, for such behavior.

In turn, when a violator has been warned and repeats the behavior or when behavior truly approaches a violation of the law, those in management need to understand the gravity of the situation and how to initiate appropriate serious disciplinary action, including termination of employment.

What You Can Do

Create a strong sexual harassment policy (downloadable samples at the bottom of this page)

We understand that as a business you need to do what’s right for your clients, employees and the bottom line. You can use fairness, inclusion and respect as tools to help stand out from your competitors.

Writing the Job Description and Ad

The images and language used in advertisements in male-dominated industries send a strong signal about whether or not a company wants to attract women, trans or gender nonconforming people to work with them.

Be sure to use gender-neutral language.

Example:

“ABC Builders is looking for tradespeople to work at a variety of construction projects. Candidates must have their own tools, have reliable transportation and the ability to travel.”

In your ad or post, you might include the following intro:

“We provide equal opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to any legally protected status, such as race, religion, age, color, gender, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, and disability.”

Places to Post the Job:

Tips for Retention

Working environments that are inclusive, safe and flexible benefit all employees.

Sponsor and offer an apprenticeship program to young women, trans, and gender non-conforming people and promote the career opportunities available in the trades.

Offer a buddy system that starts from the job offer stage and assists women, trans, and gender non-conforming people to form relationships, build networks and transition successfully to the company.

End isolation on worksites by assigning women, trans, and gender non-conforming people, especially those new to the trades, in pairs or more.

Guarantee pay equity within your company. Change the company’s culture to embrace diversity and flexibility as an ongoing commitment to the entire workforce–not just ‘special treatment’ for women, trans, and gender non-conforming people.

Communication Styles

Acknowledge that there are common differences in communication styles between genders.

Privilege refers to the social, economic and political advantages or rights held by people from dominant groups on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, social class, etc.

For example, men often experience privilege that people of other genders do not have.

A key aspect of privilege is that—due to its unearned nature—those who have privilege often do not realize they have it. In other words, they don’t see the access and opportunity being a member of a dominant group affords them.

There are many other types of privilege, too:

Class Privilege

Race Privilege

Educational Privilege

Gender Privilege

Gender Identity Privilege

Age Privilege

Body Size Privilege

Able-Bodied Privilege

Life on the Outside Privilege

“Passing” Privilege

Religious Privilege

Sexuality Privilege

Source: Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois

What does privilege look like?

If you expect time off from work to celebrate religious holidays, you have Christian privilege.

If you can use public bathrooms without stares, fear, or anxiety, you have cisgender privilege.

If you cannot be legally fired from work because of your perceived sexuality, you have heterosexual privilege.

If you are confident that the police exist to protect you, you have white male privilege.

If you don't have to think about it, it is a privilege.

Becoming aware of privilege should not be viewed as a burden or source of guilt, but rather an opportunity to learn and be responsible so that we may work toward a more just and inclusive world.

Source: University of San Francisco

How do we check our privilege?

1. Acknowledge that the privilege exists.
2. Don't feel guilty about it.
3. Understand that your privilege will not go away until the root systems that give you privilege are abolished.
4. Be an ally to communities that you are not a part of.
5. Recognize how and why your privilege can destruct community empowerment.
6. Use your privilege to benefit groups you are not a part of.
7. Educate others with your privilege to check themselves.
8. Call people out and embrace being called out about privilege.

“Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. ”
― Paulo Freire

Sources for ordering gender neutral signs:

Sources for Personal Protective Equipment Sized for Women:

—This toolkit was developed by Kate Stephenson and Mel Baiser of HELM Construction Solutions with help and feedback from many of our colleagues in the building trades and social justice movements. We recognize this is just a first step toward raising awareness of these issues in our industry and our workplaces, but we felt the need to start somewhere.

If you have feedback on the Toolkit, ideas to share, or suggestions for additions, please comment below.